“India does not believe in being a partner in military alliances,” the statement read. Despite this, we are a partner for a large number of countries, notably in the areas of military and defence. And the alliance is a completely different perception of it, as well as a very different allusion to it. Vikram Misri, the Deputy National Security Agency Director, stated that the United States is not a member of any military alliance.
Both India and the United States have made it quite clear that they are not members of a military alliance with one another. Vikram Misri, India’s Deputy National Security Advisor, and Admiral John Aquilino, Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, recently participated in a special session of the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2023 in Singapore. During this session, they were asked to respond to a question posed by a Chinese military representative who voiced concerns about India’s accelerating and reinforcing its collaboration with the United States in the Indian Ocean.
In response to a question posed by a Chinese delegate about how India viewed the United States’ role in Indian regional security and whether India views itself as a leader or as an equal participant in the security of the Indian Ocean, Misri stated, “A lot of this question was focused on engagement and relations between India and the United States, and there were certain characterisations in the question that I don’t necessarily agree with.” Misri was responding to the Chinese delegate’s inquiry. But before I go into that, I want to state that the defence and military partnership between the United States and India is one that is solid and strong. We work together in a wide variety of domains, such as the conduct of training and exercises, the acquisition of platforms, and the exchange of strategic perspectives and evaluations on matters of mutual importance. We are a partner of the United States of America, and I believe that in concluding various agreements with the United States, which is a typical element of such ties, which you characterised as intelligence communications.’
“Whatever way you categorise them, I think we, as sovereign countries each one, India and the United States, are within our rights to negotiate such accords, as are all other governments, including all the other countries in the world. In addition, the majority of the countries that are represented at this table have accords of this kind. Second, I’m not sure if the interpreter conveyed your meaning well, but what I heard via the earpiece indicated that you were making a reference to a military partnership between India and the United States of America. India is not interested in becoming a member of any military alliances at this time. Despite this, we are a partner for a large number of countries, notably in the areas of military and defence. And the alliance is a completely different perception of it, as well as a very different allusion to it. “And I would just like to say that we are not a part of any military alliance,” he continued. “I would just like to say that.”
The Deputy National Security Advisor made a remark that was intended to be taken as a jab at China for its desire to have an open and inclusive Indian Ocean by saying, “We see ourselves as equal participants in all of the mechanisms that we are part of.” That equality serves as the guiding concept for many of these different processes and platforms that I mentioned before in this paragraph. Therefore, there is no possibility that any one person is the leader while the others are the followers. Everyone here contributes equally to the formation of these regional conceptions that I’ve been talking about.
“Of course, there need to be no barriers to entry and no exclusions. Every kind of collaboration should be open and accessible to everyone. In point of fact, I believe that, if I am not mistaken, it is in India’s conception of the Indo-Pacific, for instance of what began life as the free and the open Indo-Pacific, for us to characterise it as the free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific. This is an example of what began life as the free and the open Indo-Pacific. Therefore, inclusion is undeniably included into both our way of thinking and the definition that we provide to these concepts. However, given that you have discussed openness and inclusivity in relation to participation, my expectation is that this principle would be observed in an equal and thorough manner by everyone else as well as across a variety of geographical locations when it comes to that matter, as Misri explained further.
The statement that the United States does not have a military alliance with India was echoed by Admiral John Aquilino, who made the same point.
According to what he had to say, “The United States of America has many relationships around the world, some bilateral and some multilateral, and contrary to what the National Security Advisor has stated, it is not at all a military alliance with India.” It is a special defence cooperation agreement that has been in place for some time, but its origins can be traced back to the position taken by the United States in the event that our friends and allies in India faced a threat to their sovereignty and need support; the United States provided this aid on the basis of our relationship and our agreement. Therefore, all of these ties, regardless of whether they are bilateral, alliances, or multilateral agreements, are layered, and they contribute to one another in various ways. There is no one who is more important than another. We place a high value on our relationships, and we always live up to the obligations we make.
“QUAD is not a military relationship,” the statement reads.
The United States and India have both made it very apparent that their partnership within the QUAD alliance is not a military one; rather, it is primarily a political and economic connection.
According to Admiral John Aquilino, “The QUAD is a relationship that is both diplomatic and economic.” It is not a partnership with the armed forces. Again, so there’s the fact that the Quad nations get together and operate together in exercise Malabar and other military activities, whether they be marine or air these are things that we do frequently anytime we can get together to create interoperability and increase our capabilities together. Therefore, just to make sure everyone is on the same page, this is in no way a military alliance.
The Indian Deputy NSA concurred with the opinion expressed by the US Admiral, stating that the QUAD does not have a military nature.
Misri said, “Just for your information, the Malabar exercises came before the QUAD by many, many years. Those of you who want to combine the QUAD and the Malabar exercises should know this.” Therefore, from a conceptual standpoint, it has zero bearing on the QUAD. And just so you know, there have been people who have participated in Malabar who are not members of QUAD. For example, Singapore was a participant in the Malabar exercises in the past.
“In terms of what it accomplishes for maritime security, the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness effort has emerged as both an extremely intriguing and significant initiative that has recently come into existence. That is something that is not a product that is necessarily solely for the QUAD members, but rather it is designed to be a public good for the entire Indian Ocean region. Therefore, the items that would come out of this effort will be of use to boost the Maritime Domain Awareness of members in general who would wish to be linked with that, as he explained further.